


Sleepy Time Baby Shenko

by cdrlizziebean



Series: Cdrlizziebean's Baby Shenko Collection [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:58:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdrlizziebean/pseuds/cdrlizziebean





	Sleepy Time Baby Shenko

“I got this,” Kaidan muttered, bouncing the bubbly eight month old on his hip like Shepard did so often. She smiled wearily at him, fidgeting in the doorway.

“Are you sure? I could cancel. Jack would be pissed at me but when is she not pissed at me,” Shepard sighed, running her hand through her daughter’s thick red curls.

“No, it’s fine. You need some fun. We’ll be fine, right Ash?” Kaidan whispered, watching her blow bubbles through her teeth. She giggled, reaching for his hair. “See we’ve got this,” he added with a wince as she tugged.

Shepard blinked, taking in a deep breath. “Alright, make sure she gets to bed soon. She’ll be cranky otherwise.” Kaidan nodded at his anxious wife, smiling brightly. “…and I’ll see you in a few hours.” She kissed them both and slowly backed out of the doorway. Kaidan closed the door, shifting Ashley from his hip. It was hard to keep her there and he wondered how the hell Shepard could keep the child up without her arms getting tired.

He carted her off to the kitchen, placed her in the high chair, and stumbled over to the fridge looking for the bowl of mashed avocados and cream cheese Shepard had left them. Kaidan sniffed the gooey concoction, frowning. He wasn’t a fan of avocados.

Ashley watched him as he approached with spoon and bowl in hand. She wrinkled her nose at him as he sat down. “Maman,” she whined, wiggling in her seat.

“Sorry, button, mama’s not here, okay? But we can do this together,” he muttered, stirring up the green and white mixture. He lifted the spoon to her mouth. “Open wide.” She looked at him with those big green eyes that reminded him so much of her mother.

She stuck out her lip. “Maman,” she whimpered. Kaidan sighed, pressing the back of his hand against his forehead.

“Come on, Ash,” he muttered, prodding her again. She narrowed her eyes and hesitantly took the spoon in her mouth. She giggled, sputtering avocado all over her lips. He chuckled at the mess that was his daughter and readied another spoonful.

After an hour of near misses with her avocado surprise, Kaidan was sure he had gotten most of the mixture into his daughter and quickly got her ready for bed. He stripped her down, tried to bathe her but got most of the soap and water on himself, and settled her in the crib. He didn’t know how Shepard could keep up with Ashley. He was getting frustrated and his implant was protesting just as loud as his baby girl at the edge of her crib.

He gently patted her head, smoothing out her curls as he tried to reassure her. “Time for bed, button. Mama will be back when you wake up,” he cooed, dropping down to her eye level. She sniffed at him, her green eyes filling with tears.

“Maman!” she shouted before bursting into another wave of wails. Kaidan pulled Ashley away from the bars and tried placing her back down on the thin crib mattress. Ashley fussed, pushing herself back up and at the bars as soon as he released.

He sighed. How was he going to fix this? He was growing tired and the migraine building at the base of his skull was not helping. Kaidan carefully thought of what to do next. There was no way he could call Shepard. As soon as she saw that it was him calling, she’d leave her party and be back home. He didn’t want that. She deserved a night out and he wanted to prove he could handle things. He was Major Kaidan Alenko—second human Spectre—for god’s sake.

Kaidan smiled, an idea forming in his head. He held Ashley in place against the crib bars as he vaulted in beside her. Lying down, he shifted her against his stomach and instantly her crying faded to quiet hiccups. He sighed, happy with his triumph. Migraine beginning to fade, he closed his eyes, listening to the quiet whistle of Ashley’s breathing.

His eyes fluttered open and he looked down at her. See I can do this too. Just because she’s the hero of the galaxy doesn’t mean she’s the only one that can do things, he thought, slowly pulling himself out from under Ashley. As he did so, her eyes snapped open, whimper stuck in her throat. He dropped back down and Ashley settled with a gentle sigh.

Swallowing, he tried again but Ashley just clung tightly to him and let out a wheezing sob. He stopped, felt her grow heavy again, and tried twisting out of her grasp. She moaned, pulling herself over his hip. He placed his head in his hand in defeat. There was no way she was going to let him out of her grasp.

—-

When she returned, Shepard found her husband tangled in baby blankets and a drooling red head sprawled over his chest, butt in his face. She smiled, leaned over the crib, and gently pulled her daughter off Kaidan. He yawned, slowly waking up.

“Oh, I—”

Shepard quickly shushed him, motioning for him to get up. She promptly placed her groggy angel back down, gently rubbing her back until she fell back asleep.

“That’s it?” Kaidan whispered, “A back rub? She wouldn’t let me leave…”

Shepard grinned. “Your method was cuter,” she responded, making her way out of the room.


End file.
